I've been thinking about the word BALANCE lately....in terms of WORK-LIFE-BALANCE.....and I feel like there has been a lot of talk about what that really is. Some say, It's bogus. It doesn't exist. Other's say it's all about hiring out what you can't handle well. It's so many things.

I'm here to say that it's none of those. It's not even about Balance.

Let's just scrap that word, shall we?

It's called PRIORITIES.

I started working from home when I had 2 toddlers. Gosh. That sounds like a dream now. It was so nuts at the time, but I laugh at how hard I thought it was, now that I'm juggling 4 and twice as much work. Funny how you look back and realize how much stronger you've become, right?

I felt like I had BALANCE written on my forehead. It was my quest. I worked during naptime, and bedtime. I tried to find that daily dance we are all trying to get just right.

I worked myself to the ground.

But the fact of the matter is, there isn't any "Just Right" rhythm. Because it changes too frequently. You find a play date schedule to give yourself work time, and then the stomach flu hits the family, and you are out of commission for a week. You finally get the bedtime routine down, but one child starts teething. You set up a space to work with the kids playing at your feet, only to realize that they prefer to be in a different spot in the house.

Any of this sound familiar?

I don't know about you, but I feel like the world seems to demand some sort of superwoman these days.

Like that work-life-balance means able to do it all, and if we just try harder, those balls will stop dropping.

I'm here to redefine the status quo a little here.

I have often spoken to groups of women about my tree pose analogy.

Any yogis here? When you are in tree pose, you are balancing on one foot. For a long time. You can stay here forever it seems....IF you keep your foot moving.

Have you ever paid attention to your foot when you are balancing? Is it rigid and stiff? Or is it constantly shifting? Your foot is constantly shifting around it's CENTER to maintain harmony.

They way you achieve balance, is by constantly moving from one thing to the next, but always rotating around your center core of beliefs.

When you have your priorities in line, when you are focused on what are THE most important things in your life, you are free to shift from this thing to that, because you ALWAYS rotating around your center.

And these are my center:)

I have a very cute center, don't you think? :)

Sometimes those shifts move minute by minute, and they look like my day was today....going from this task to that task, getting it all done.

Sometimes those shifts come in seasons. With babies demanding more of one side of me, and slowly shifting back to more of a work routine.

That's the point though. That you are constantly cycling and making things work based on the needs of what's most central to your being.

So really, there is no need to keep up with any kind of "expectation" or "outside pressures." The guide is there...already inside you...and it's your job to find out how to keep swinging...but never shifting your core. Your center. Your purpose.

It might seem so simple...to straight forward. But once I realized that there wasn't a magic pill or a step-by-step guide to achieving balance in my life, it dawned on me that it's really not even about that at all.

No schedule will give you balance.

Rather, you set what's most important, and you work in the rest by shifting as you go.

When I was in junior high, my sunday school teacher brought a bunch of rocks to church. Some were pebbles, and the rest were large. We had to fit them all in a mason jar. And he promised us that they would all fit.

We all tried, and failed.

Then, he showed us how.

He put the large rocks in first, and then sprinkled in the pebbles, and they all fell into place around the large rocks. And it all fit.

When you have your priorities set, all the other things fall into place.

None of this frantically trying to get it all done. Trust that it will all fit. Trust that all the "busy" will settle around the "core."

This is a shift in thinking maybe, from the "get it all done, and perfectly, and you'll be balanced" mentality. But it works.

Hi, I'm Sarah Jane: Designer, illustrator, and creative mother who loves to inspire and share my ideas from inside my studio. Snapshots of home and studio life, peeks into my creative mind, and projects for you to make alongside.